Few people are lucky enough love their 9-to-5s, and more and more people are finding themselves doing something else on the side, either to add to their income or to feed their passion. Sometimes, those "side hustles" start to feel more and more like "the real thing," and suddenly these people are dreaming about running a business of their own. Sound familiar? If you're one of the thousands of people dreaming about turning your side hustle into a true business, you're not alone.

Moving away from a steady, full-time position to being on your own is the scariest, yet most invigorating feeling in the world. I've found most people consider entrepreneurship either unattainable or, honesty, highly romanticized. The reality is that neither is correct. Being an entrepreneur is a ton of work, but it's also completely possible.

1. Be clear and honest with yourself about when it's time to make the jump.

Giving up the benefits and security that come with a full-time job is scary, and sometimes unrealistic, but it's also dangerous to keep waiting until the time "feels right." Ask yourself exactly what you need to have before you can make your side gig your new reality. A good rule of thumb is to have enough savings to live for about six months without income, and/or with the income you already have from your side clients.You should also have a clear idea of who your potential clients might be and how to connect with them.

After taking care of the logistical considerations, try to avoid dragging your feet. According to the British Psychological Society, you're 91 percent more likely to accomplish something if you give yourself a deadline. So do it! Hold yourself accountable. Maybe you're not willing to stay at your current job beyond a certain date, or maybe there will be other indicators that will make you certain that it's time to go. If your current role isn't fulfilling and the passion is gone, it may be the perfect catalyst for making the jump. Both of my businesses came to fruition because of my own realization that I wasn't flourishing in my current roles. I wasn't the best, I wasn't seeing the success I wanted and instead of feeling defeated, I changed directions. For me, the clearest signal that it was time to leave was that I didn't believe in the goals I was supposed to be working toward.

2. Before you quit, put the processes in place to help your side gig scale.

Early on, business organization and strategizing is a huge component of success. You'll need to limit stress and create as much efficiency and ease as possible in your daily systems. This could mean scheduling things carefully, or using free software to make your work more effective. I try to divide the week into days assigned to different businesses tasks. Try as best you can to not switch back and forth between your different focus areas within the same day. Going back and forth between tasks that are not related is inefficient and breaks focus. Give your brain a break and keep yourself on one straight road each day.

Digitizing your work can help, too. According to Accenture, companies that use cloud collaboration tools with their teams improve productivity, have greater clarity about what's going on in their business and save money. When you first start out, it can feel silly to keep documents in a shareable cloud space (like Google Drive, DropBox or whatever option you like best), but you need to have the structures in place so that you're organized and ready for the time if/when you hire a team to support you. This is a good thing to play around with before you quit your main gig. Having the tools and processes you know work well for you ready to go when you make the switch can make ramp up time easier.

It's long hours, it's always being "on," its wearing too many hats, but it's also incredibly rewarding. So, how do you successfully turn your side project or passion into a prosperous business? What are the steps? We all want the "1, 2, 3 and voila, here it is, a company of our own," but realistically, how can we make it happen? I can only speak to my own experience, failures or what I like to call "directional pivots" and successes. There have been a few true catalysts that have helped me turn my two side gigs into full-time gigs.

3. Work hard, and be humble.

Your time is valuable, but as new entrepreneur you can't treat it like currency. What I mean is, be prepared to put in lots of hours with minimal return. Initially, time may not correlate with financial success; this is an incredibly important mindset to remember. Your time isn't money, yet. It's groundwork. Building a side gig up from the ground requires wearing a lot of different hats. If you want your business to succeed, you have to be ready to play customer service rep, salesperson, individual contributor and HR.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, break the work down further. Spend more time working on the day to day tasks, checking things off the to-do list. These are all working toward your big vision, but in small doable pieces rather than hefty overwhelming ones. Try not to consider any task "beneath you" and take some time to truly understand what goes into each part of your business. You won't have a boss telling you what's right or wrong, so you'll need to build a sense of self-accountability — one of the toughest parts of being an entrepreneur. Take notes about the challenges you face in each aspect of your business so that you'll know what anyone you might hire will have to cope with. It's your best chance to uncover important considerations and think about what resources might need to go where, down the line.

4. Surround yourself with smart people — even if you never plan to work with them.

As much as entrepreneurship can be a solitary job, especially in the beginning, it's vital to your success to remember how others can help you thrive. Invest your time in like-minded people. Take time to get to know others and their stories and create valuable relationships. So much of success is built from opportunities or inspiration from people we know. Find people you connect with to talk about your ideas, write about your ideas online and build a community that empowers you. Take advantage of those around you who want to see you succeed. You'll be surprised at how much people want to help!

The number of new startups and small businesses has dropped dramatically in recent years, nearing a 40-year low in 2016. The landscape has gotten tougher, which makes being an entrepreneur scarier. Turning a side hustle into the real thing is not easy, and I'd be lying if I said I loved every minute of it. But, just as with most other big decisions in life, there are always lessons to be learned no matter what happens. Be thoughtful, take smart risks and see where your "side hustle" can go.